Ribs on airplane wings



June 20, 1967 5, 1 ATTERBURY 3,326,499

RIBS ON AIRPLANE WINGS v Filed March 2, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 20,1967 s. T. ATTERBURY 3,326,499

RIBS ON AIRPLANE WINGS Filed March 2,, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent 3,326,499 RIBS 0N AIRPLANE WINGS Stanley T. Atterbury,Chicago, II]. (928 E. 172nd St., South Holland, 11!. 60473) Filed Mar.2, 1964, Ser. No. 348,887 1 Claim. (Cl. 244-42) This invention relatesto protection of jet liners and airplanes in severe weather conditions.

Heretofore, clear air turbulence has been known, but its causes andafter effects little known. It consists of two air masses moving inopposite directions. When they grind together, causing an abrupt changein Wind directions, this is called wind-shear. Until recently it hasgone undetected by electronic equipment.

When a jet liner hits a wind-shear it causes the plane to go into avertical dive a mile a minute. It causes violent reaction to airplanes.Controls are almost locked. Unless control is restored in one to threeminutes, crashes usually occur.

This wind-shear forces the plane into a dive. The pressure on top of thewing, and the bottom are about equal. Because of the weight of theplane, plus the speed, the net pressure on the wings, is now in theleading edge of the wings, and the body of the plane. This pressure,must be corrected by the ailerons and elevators of the plane. Unlesscorrected very quickly, crashes usually occur.

While small planes with less weight, may climb out of a dive, big planeswith their great Weight, are not equipped to handle this emergency veryWell. It takes two men to pull out of a dive, if successful.

An object of this invention is to provide the wings with ribs. Theseribs are attached to the bottom surfaces of the wings. It is When theleading edge of the wings, are raised, and the trailing edges arelowered for landing and takeoff, that the ribs grip the air and break upthe airflow at the trailing edge of the wings for better control, inlanding and take-oft.

Another object of this invention, is to have half circle ribs, they aretapered at the leading edge of the wings, and tapered at the trailingedge of the wings. The ribs parallel each other.

When caught in a wind-shear, this would break up the nearly equalpressure on the top and bottom of the Wings. The ribs grip the air,instead of slipping over it. In a vertical dive, the ribs would makecontrols easier to handle.

Another object of this invention is to make possible shorter take-offsof planes, air being used more efficiently.

Another object of this invention is to provide greater load capacity inplanes.

This invention is shown, in illustrations, embodying it.

FIGURE 1 is a transverse view, as indicated by line cross section, of anairplane wing, with my invention attached to it. FIGURE 2 is a bottomview of the wing. The drawing shows a wing having top 7 and bottom 4.Recess 6 extends from the wing tip to the wing root and from adjacentthe leading edge to adjacent the trailing edge of bottom 4 the recesstapering more gradually to the rear. Ribs 5 are disposed within therecess of the wing and have an upper surface following the contour ofthe recess. Bottom surface 4 of the ribs follows the contour of thebottom surface of the wing. The front ends of the ribs are tapered andpointed as shown in FIG. 2 and the width of the ribs tapers to a pointat the rear ends. The ribs are parallel and disposed between thefuselage and the wing tip The ribs near the wing tip may be spacedcloser together than those near the fuselage. The ribs are semi-circularin cross-section.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in theart.

What I claim is:

A Wing having a recess in its bottom surface, said recess tapering froma front end near the leading edge of the wing to a maximum depth andthen tapering gradually to its rear end adjacent the trailing edge ofthe wing, said recess extending from the wing tip to the wing root, aplurality of parallel ribs having a semi-circular cross-section disposedin said recess, the top surface of said ribs conforming to the topsurface of the recess and the bottom surface of the ribs conforming withthe bottom surface of the wing, the front ends of the ribs beingpointed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,104,056 7/1914 Marr 244-911,157,636 10/1915 Ogrissck et al 244-9l X 1,749,047 3/1930 St. Louis244-91 1,900,067 3/1933 Messerscumitt 244-123 MILTON BUCHLER, PrimaryExaminer. B. BELKIN, Assistant Examiner.

